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By now you should know that the January 10th MJHL trading deadline has come and gone. And by now you should know the two moves that Head Coach John Marks and his team were able to make. If not, then go take a quick read of the story on winklerflyers.com and then come back.
OK...Welcome back.
Every team at the deadline has a job to do and the goal is not a hard one. Although the process of succeeding at that job is not easy. The bottom line goal is to improve your hockey club either for the present or for the future.
The business of trading players is a tough one and for the most part you have to give up something good in order to get something good. The men inside the Flyers office have been mulling over a lot of things the past number of weeks leading up to the deadline. They tried to identify the areas that needed to be addressed and what was the best way to do that.
When you think of the Flyers team this season what comes to mind? They are a fast, skilled team that has the ability to be an explosive bunch. They have two of the best goaltenders in the league and in my opinion they have a lot of the right pieces in place. However, things aren’t perfect. Since the beginning of the season the Flyers haven’t had much trouble scoring goals. But when you are looking to address a need via a trade you look at the bad and not the good.
By picking up two skilled and experienced defensemen at the deadline it is obvious what the team thought was an area that needed help. The Flyers are a mix of youth and experience and because of that they have a tendency to be a little inconsistent at times. For the players on the blue-line specifically there was more youth than experience on the ice before January 10th. Only captain Troy Kliever and Blair Osiowy had ever played for the Flyers before and the rest of them are completely new to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. I don’t want you to take this as me saying that the defensemen on this team are all crappy, I am just saying that improvement was needed. There is a lot of potential in the Flyers blue-liners. Steve Sorensen, Mick Bruce, Blair Osiowy and Nate Jose all have a bright future with the team. Kliever, James Buttermore, Brad Haber and Justin Minoletti will only be with the team through the rest of this season and will all be gone next year. The four non-20 year olds will have plenty of time to be the leaders back there.
The addition of Haber and Minoletti will make the Flyers a much more well rounded team. If you watch as many Flyer games as I do you can see the game plan that other teams try to implement. Dump it in and pressure the defense. If you want to combat that game plan you need defensemen that are willing to be physical and can make quick (and hopefully the right) decisions. And it can’t be all bad cause the team is currently within striking distance of first but you get my point.
Now look at the two pieces of the puzzle that are now on board. Haber has 130 games of Western Hockey League experience. By all accounts he is a big, physical player who can make a good first pass out of the zone and make smart decisions in his own end. The WHL is widely known as a rough and tough league so he should be able to provide a spark in that department. As soon as I heard about the trade I fired a text to a guy I know in the WHL who would have played many games against Haber and asked him what he thought. He sent a text back saying “He is a big defenseman who can skate really well....good player”. And usually for me the people who would have the best impression of a certain player are the guys he either plays with or against.
Minoletti is well known in the MJHL from his days with the Portage Terriers. As a rookie in 2008/09 he helped the Portage Terriers win the Turnbull Trophy (MJHL Championship). And if any of you have followed the league the last number of years you know exactly what it takes to be a Portage Terrier. They are rough, they are tough, and they make you pay with skill and physical play. Minoletti fits right in with that mould and can also improve the offense from the back end. He also reminds me of the defenseman the Flyers picked up right before the deadline last season. TJ Ahvenniemi came to Winkler and found a little niche as a great skating offensive guy who provides annoying grit. From what I have seen of Minoletti over the past three seasons I have always found them to be similar players and seeing as they are both from Thunder Bay it should make sense right?
Now I am not dumb enough to believe that all the Flyers struggles in their own end are the fault of the defense. A crew of forwards that consistently back checks can go a long way in helping to prevent scoring chances.
Now some of you may see the fact that the Flyers left a card open as a waste. John Marks said many times during the process that he wasn’t going to make a move just for the sake of making a move. Now using that last card to pick up a top end forward wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world. But what are you willing to give up in order to get that forward and will your team be any better when the dust has settled. A few paragraphs ago I said that you have to give up something good to get something good. And you really have to ask yourself how much of the future you are willing to give up for the present.
There were a few “impact” forwards out there but from what I hear the asking price was very high. The Winnipeg Blues had a few of them (Adam Stoykewich, Even Gravenor, Jason Gardiner) and all three would have looked really nice in an Orange and Black uniform. BUT....would you be comfortable with giving up guys like Jordan Neduzak, Jory Mullin, Seth Ronsberg, Chapen Leblond or a combination of those guys in order to get players that would play here this season and that's it in exchange for players with many years left to give. And would you really be trading two dimes and a nickel for a quarter and end up exactly where you were before?
Although making such a move might give you a lift for the next three months would the trade still make sense in the next year or two. You also have to be mindful of the fact that these boys are like a family and you have to be very careful when moving guys in and out so you don’t wreck the chemistry inside the locker room.
Coach Marks was able to add two pretty nice pieces while losing only defenseman Matt Hannibal who had only been with the team since the end of November. So that is a pretty nice thing.
I for one am pretty excited to see what happens in the next few months and see how this team will perform now that the roster moves are done and this is what we are left with. I think we are left with something that is exciting and should provide some good times ahead in Flyerland.
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.
Thanks
OK...Welcome back.
Every team at the deadline has a job to do and the goal is not a hard one. Although the process of succeeding at that job is not easy. The bottom line goal is to improve your hockey club either for the present or for the future.
The business of trading players is a tough one and for the most part you have to give up something good in order to get something good. The men inside the Flyers office have been mulling over a lot of things the past number of weeks leading up to the deadline. They tried to identify the areas that needed to be addressed and what was the best way to do that.
When you think of the Flyers team this season what comes to mind? They are a fast, skilled team that has the ability to be an explosive bunch. They have two of the best goaltenders in the league and in my opinion they have a lot of the right pieces in place. However, things aren’t perfect. Since the beginning of the season the Flyers haven’t had much trouble scoring goals. But when you are looking to address a need via a trade you look at the bad and not the good.
By picking up two skilled and experienced defensemen at the deadline it is obvious what the team thought was an area that needed help. The Flyers are a mix of youth and experience and because of that they have a tendency to be a little inconsistent at times. For the players on the blue-line specifically there was more youth than experience on the ice before January 10th. Only captain Troy Kliever and Blair Osiowy had ever played for the Flyers before and the rest of them are completely new to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. I don’t want you to take this as me saying that the defensemen on this team are all crappy, I am just saying that improvement was needed. There is a lot of potential in the Flyers blue-liners. Steve Sorensen, Mick Bruce, Blair Osiowy and Nate Jose all have a bright future with the team. Kliever, James Buttermore, Brad Haber and Justin Minoletti will only be with the team through the rest of this season and will all be gone next year. The four non-20 year olds will have plenty of time to be the leaders back there.
The addition of Haber and Minoletti will make the Flyers a much more well rounded team. If you watch as many Flyer games as I do you can see the game plan that other teams try to implement. Dump it in and pressure the defense. If you want to combat that game plan you need defensemen that are willing to be physical and can make quick (and hopefully the right) decisions. And it can’t be all bad cause the team is currently within striking distance of first but you get my point.
Now look at the two pieces of the puzzle that are now on board. Haber has 130 games of Western Hockey League experience. By all accounts he is a big, physical player who can make a good first pass out of the zone and make smart decisions in his own end. The WHL is widely known as a rough and tough league so he should be able to provide a spark in that department. As soon as I heard about the trade I fired a text to a guy I know in the WHL who would have played many games against Haber and asked him what he thought. He sent a text back saying “He is a big defenseman who can skate really well....good player”. And usually for me the people who would have the best impression of a certain player are the guys he either plays with or against.
Minoletti is well known in the MJHL from his days with the Portage Terriers. As a rookie in 2008/09 he helped the Portage Terriers win the Turnbull Trophy (MJHL Championship). And if any of you have followed the league the last number of years you know exactly what it takes to be a Portage Terrier. They are rough, they are tough, and they make you pay with skill and physical play. Minoletti fits right in with that mould and can also improve the offense from the back end. He also reminds me of the defenseman the Flyers picked up right before the deadline last season. TJ Ahvenniemi came to Winkler and found a little niche as a great skating offensive guy who provides annoying grit. From what I have seen of Minoletti over the past three seasons I have always found them to be similar players and seeing as they are both from Thunder Bay it should make sense right?
Now I am not dumb enough to believe that all the Flyers struggles in their own end are the fault of the defense. A crew of forwards that consistently back checks can go a long way in helping to prevent scoring chances.
Now some of you may see the fact that the Flyers left a card open as a waste. John Marks said many times during the process that he wasn’t going to make a move just for the sake of making a move. Now using that last card to pick up a top end forward wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world. But what are you willing to give up in order to get that forward and will your team be any better when the dust has settled. A few paragraphs ago I said that you have to give up something good to get something good. And you really have to ask yourself how much of the future you are willing to give up for the present.
There were a few “impact” forwards out there but from what I hear the asking price was very high. The Winnipeg Blues had a few of them (Adam Stoykewich, Even Gravenor, Jason Gardiner) and all three would have looked really nice in an Orange and Black uniform. BUT....would you be comfortable with giving up guys like Jordan Neduzak, Jory Mullin, Seth Ronsberg, Chapen Leblond or a combination of those guys in order to get players that would play here this season and that's it in exchange for players with many years left to give. And would you really be trading two dimes and a nickel for a quarter and end up exactly where you were before?
Although making such a move might give you a lift for the next three months would the trade still make sense in the next year or two. You also have to be mindful of the fact that these boys are like a family and you have to be very careful when moving guys in and out so you don’t wreck the chemistry inside the locker room.
Coach Marks was able to add two pretty nice pieces while losing only defenseman Matt Hannibal who had only been with the team since the end of November. So that is a pretty nice thing.
I for one am pretty excited to see what happens in the next few months and see how this team will perform now that the roster moves are done and this is what we are left with. I think we are left with something that is exciting and should provide some good times ahead in Flyerland.
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.
Thanks
